The Man in the Red Zoot Suit– Part Two: Gruesome Discoveries

Bryton Pear looked around the interior of the Cranston house, which he and Ret were exploring in a most stealth-like manner. The interior of the house was massive and it appeared to be much larger than the exterior. Being the most colossal home Bryton had ever stepped into, the Cranston house was also disturbingly quiet. Of course, when performing a crime such as this, Bryton would expect everything to be silent. However, this sort of silence literally made him fell a bit anxious. The dimming of the lights, from every room, slightly illuminated the home, giving the group of thieves’ full advantage for their visual perspective.

“I don’t think we need to use our flashlights,” Ret whispered cautiously. “I would suggest gripping them tightly, however. This house is large, you never know if you could get attacked from a house pet or a frightened resident. Just take whatever is valuable. Jewelry, antiques, etcetera. Then we’ll meet in the living room with Laura, Zap, and Noodle. You get the idea.”

“Gotcha,” Bryton whispered with a smile, as he held his flashlight in one hand, with his gun in the other. He was determined to rob everything that the family owned in this house. Hell, he surely wouldn’t mind stealing the Cranston house, himself. Bryton’s experience with burglary have been much efficient and he was ready for anything. Even if it were meeting the same fate as Zap did.

Bryton visited the kitchen, as Ret visited the game room, searching for any valuables.

Ugh, I’m never going to find anything in a kitchen, Bryton thought to himself as he quietly wandered. He found it very strange that the kitchen happened to be completely empty, shelves and all. The house was also extremely quiet. Being in the presence of this silence would drive a man insane within an hour. Bryton didn’t like it one bit, even though head been through the activity of burglary many times before. To give himself some relief, Bryton decided to humor his nervousness away. Heh, maybe I could find some very valuable spoons. I would have the richest soup of my life. Yeah, soup, that’s the way to go. Hahahaha, to be living in sweet wealth with high quality silverware. Story of my life. Gotta love me some soup. Bryton quietly, and carefully, opened a kitchen drawer, revealing a drawer-full of… nothing. Damn, I had the rest of my life planned with great silverware. I guess I have to wait longer, hahahaha. Bryton laughed quietly, once he shut the drawer.

As quiet as the house was, Bryton was slightly startled when he heard a slight thump coming from behind him. Natural adrenaline overwhelmed him, as Bryton immediately turned around, pointing his gun where he believed the sound came from. There was nothing there, according to Bryton’s sight against the dimmed lights, of course. Oddly, the dimmed lights freaked Bryton out, more than he thought, at least. He turned on his flashlight and shined it on the spot, which happened to be near the dining room table. Still nothing. Jeez, Ret, you’re a great burglar when you’re not making noise. Bryton shrugged and switched off his flashlight, only to rely on the dimmed lights, once again. He turned around to the direction he was facing before, only to see something peculiar about the refrigerator. The door was slightly open, with its light slightly illuminating the kitchen floor. Bryton looked around once again, completely puzzled. The fact that the refrigerator was open now, when it was not before, gave Bryton chills down his spine with air building up in his ski mask.

He calmly reached his arm out towards the door and gently pulled. He gasped heavily and tried his best not to scream at the top of his lungs. Zap’s decapitated head rested on a silver platter inside. The fridge was contained nothing but Zap’s head, which calmly dripped small amounts of blood on the floor. Bryton moaned with no satisfaction, as he vomited on all over the clean floor. He quickly shut the door and pulled his pistol out and began to run out of the kitchen. Someone, or something, killed Zap. His need, ranging from minimum to maximum, to leave the Cranston House was at a maximum, even if it meant risking the lives of Ret, Laura, and Noodle. I’m getting out of this pit of Hell! Oh, dear God, help me. Thoughts swarmed through Bryton’s head, like a school of fish. The image of Zap’s decapitated head would not leave. In fact, Bryton vomited, once again, all over the living room carpet. Ret and Laura were there, staring at him with eyes wide.

“No, follow me,” Ret ordered, as he made his way to the kitchen with Laura following. Bryton didn’t hesitate to stop them. If Ret and Laura didn’t believe him, he was sure enough that he wasn’t going to let those two be the cause of his fate. He was so frightened that he was about to urinate his pants. He made it to the front door of the house and tried to open it. It was locked, even when he attempted to unlock it. He started to hyperventilate as he started kicking at the door, and even attempted to pick the lock. What the hell is this?! His body began to sweat, as he frantically went for the windows, which were covered in thick burgundy curtains, which appeared highly vintage. He frantically opened the curtains and was practically going insane when he saw metallic bars sealed over the windows. He checked for the other windows, resulting they were all secured with the bars. Why can’t I get out of here?! Oh, please someone help!

Bryton made another attempt at the front door, kicking it and trying to pick the lock. There was no sign of Ret or Laura either, not since they left for the kitchen due to their curiosity. Bryton presumed them to be dead, after suffering the same fate as Zap. Bryton started breathing heavily, his palms beginning to sweat. He wanted to scream, but he couldn’t. In fact, he couldn’t say anything. He was in complete and utter shock. He couldn’t take this madness anymore. The deranged burglar took off his ski mask in a frustrated manner, took out his gun, pointed at the lock and fired two rounds. He wanted to save his ammunition if any other unexpected occurrences were to take place. Praying that the lock would finally be disabled, Bryton was shocked that it wasn’t. The door lock was in mint condition, undamaged, reflecting dimmed lighting with its brass coating. Bryton was about to have a meltdown, until he noticed a figure standing behind him form the reflection of the brass doorknob.

“Honey,” it was a woman, “there’s a man at the door.” Bryton stood there frozen, and silently set his gun to the floor.

Thank God. Maybe this was all an illusion. Zap is not dead. The others are fine. I’m just the only one who got busted. Maybe the others are driving away in their van now, so they can avoid getting arrested. I don’t care if I’m arrested, I just want out of here. Bryton didn’t turn around to face the woman, but instead stood in his place, holding his hands in the air.

“L-look, lady,” Bryton said, “I’m not here to hurt anyone. I just want to leave. If you call the cops, I will be perfectly okay with it.”

There was complete silence, just like everything had been before. Bryton could see the woman, who stood in her place as well, standing behind him. By the looks of everything, coming from the reflection of the brass knob, the woman looked absolutely stunning. She wore a white nightgown and had short brown hair. She appeared completely harmless.

The silence finally broke when the woman repeated, “Honey, there’s a man at the door. Honey, there’s a man at the door. Honey, there’s a man at the door…”

“Miss?” Bryton interrupted. “Are you okay?” He slowly turned around to face the woman. She was about his height, looking simply gorgeous. She must have been the mother of the house. Before Bryton could say anything else, he became completely speechless, once again, when he saw blood pouring out of the woman’s mouth, eyes, and from the top of her head. He glanced at her, as the woman’s nightgown began to get soaked in the blood. He looked down at her feet to see yet another decapitated head. It was Noodle. A pool of fresh blood was beneath the woman, who smiled at him pleasantly.

“Honey,” she started again, her eyes turning pure black, “there’s a MAN AT THE DOOR!”

Her entire face became evil and demonic as she shouted in Bryton’s face, petrifying him once again. He stumbled backward and fell on his ass, slamming his head against the brass doorknob. His vision was turning into an obnoxious blur. The last vision he had was of the demonic Woman in the Nightgown smiling at him, as she calmly waved good-bye. Before he became completely unconscious, he heard yet another voice.

“I do believe that it is time to meet in the kitchen, everyone. This shall not take long, I assure you. We will all be asleep, soon.”

Hey, dudes! My name is Jacob Arasim and, well, I love telling fiction, for the most part! I've been writing and illustrating my own stories/books ever since I was 5 and I never plan to stop! I love to write about comedy, sci-fi, horror, adventure, and sometimes "icky-romantics."
I am majoring in English, with a Creative Writing emphasis, along with a Theatre Arts minor. I am 19 years-old, I like to be a goof, I love meeting new people, eating macaroni 'n' cheese, and just having a good time.
I also enjoy lovely music bands such as the Pixies, Jack White, Sonic Youth, Belle & Sebastian, Nirvana, White Stripes, The Cure, Rage Against the Machine, The Jesus and Mary Chain, the list goes on! I also enjoy watching the Evil Dead and Harry Potter Movies, reading books, listening to records, going on runs, and just being a cool cat.
Speaking of cats, I really LOVE CATS!
That is all, enjoy my blog, and I appreciate you reading. Stay awesome!